West Virginia Democrat. [volume] (Charles Town, W. Va.) 1885-1890, 1887-05-27


blvi am not at all sure Of that.
The smoke rolled heavily and slowly
before the fire. 1t enyelOped the
wounded, and l think that by far
the larger portion of the men who
were roasted were suffocated before
the flames curled round them. The
spectacle was courage sapping and
piuful, and it appealed strongly to
the Imagination of the spectators,
but | do not believe that the wound
ed soldiers, who were being burned,
suffered greatly, if they suffered at
ALL
Wounded soldiers, it mattered not
how slight the wounds, generally
hastened away from the battle line.
A wound entitled man to 90 to the
rear and to hospital, Of course
there were many exceptions to this
rule, as there would necessarily be
in battles where from twenty to
thirty thousand men were wounded.
l frequently saw slightly wounded
men who were marching with their
colors. l personally saw but two
men Wounded who continued to fight.
During the first days fighting in the
Wilderness l saw a youth of about
twenty years skip and yell, stung by
bullet through the thigh. He
turned to limp to the rear After
he had gone few steps he stopped,
then he kicked out his leg once or
twice to see if it would work. Then
he tore the clothing away from his
lee so as to see the wound. lie
looked at it attentively for an in
slant, then kicked out his leg again,
then turned and took his place IN
the ranks and resumed firing. There
was considerable disorder in the line,
and the soldiers moved to and fro
now few feet to the left, now few
feet to the right. One of these
movements brought me directly be-
hind this wounded soldier. l could
see plainly from that position, and
/ pushed into the gaping line and
began firing. In minute or two
the wounded soldier dropped his
rifle. and clasping his left arm, eX-
claimed: IL am hit again" He sat
down behind the battle ranks and
tore Off the sleeve of his shirt. The
wound was very sight-nOt much
more than skin deep. He tied his
bondkerchioe oesr,l =, r.~a-> up
his rifle snd tcpE his position along
side of me. l said; You are fight
inc in bad luck to-day. You had
better get away from here" He
turned his head to answer me. His
head jerked. he staggered, then fell,
then regained his feet a tiny foun-
tain blood and teeth and bone and
bits oftOngue burst ofhis mouth. He
had been shot through the jaws; the
lower one was broken and hung
down. | looked directly into his
open mouth, which was ragged and
bloody and tongueless. lie cast his
rifle furiously on the ground, and
staggered off.
The next day, just before Long
streets soldiers made their first
charge on the Second Corps, l heard
the peculia cry a stricken man utters
as the bullet tears through his flesh.
l turned my head, as l loaded my
rifle, to see who was hit. | saw n
bearded Irishman pull up his shirt
He had been wounded on the left
side Just below the floating ribs. His
face was gray with fear. The wound
looked as though it were mortal.
He looked at it for an instant, and
then pOked it gently with his index
finger. He flushed redly and smiled
with satisfaction. He tucked his
shirt into his trousers and was fight
ing in the ranks again before | had
capped my rife. The ball had cut
a groove in his skin only. The play
of the Irishman's face was so ex-
pressive, his emotions changed so
quickly, that l could not keep from
laughing.
Near Spottsylvanla l saw, as my
battery was moving into action, 4
a group of wounded men lying in
the shade cast by some large oak
trees. All of these mems faces were
gray. They silently looked at us as
we marched past them. One wouned
man, 4 blonde giant of about forty
years, was smoking 4 brier.wood
pipe. He had 4 firm grip on the
pipe stem. / asked him what he
was doing. Having my last smoke,
young fellow" he replied. His
dauntless blue eyes met mine, and
he bravely tried to smile. l saw
that he was dying fast.
Wounded soldiers almost always
tore their clothing away from their
wounds, so as to see them and judge
of their character, Many of them
would smile, and their faces would
brighten as they realized that they
we've not hard hit, and that they
could 90 home for a few months.
Others would give quick glance at
their wounds, and then shrink back
as from blow, and turn pale, us
they realized the truth that they
were mortally wounded. The en-
listed men were exceedingly accu-
rate judges Of the probable result
which would ensue from any wound